Blog Interview: Basketball Recruit Jason Conrad

Last week, I posted an update on the status of Jason Conrad, a 6-foot-11 high school senior from California who has signed to play basketball for Portland State next year.

Conrad tore ligaments in his ankle in a Dec. 13 game and will be out five months, missing the rest of his senior season.

At the time, I posted that I didn't have any further information. Well, through the beauty of the internet, I was able to get in touch with Conrad and talk to him for a more in depth update.

Invariably at some point during the next few seasons, a Portland State fan will point out number 44, the 6-foot-11 center with a Mohawk, to a friend and say, "Didn't he graduate already?"

The answer will be yes, and no.

Yes, in that Scott Morrison, the current 6-foot-11, Mohawk-ed number 44, will have graduated.

No, in that Jason Conrad has stepped into his admittedly large shoes.

Conrad, a high school senior from Gilroy, Calif., will be PSU's new man-in-the middle next year. Additionally, he will be the only freshman on next year's Vikings team barring any unforeseen changes.

Conrad was averaging 18 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks and two assists prior to tearing ligaments in his ankle Dec. 13 and was coming off a gae where he posted 27 points, 23 rebounds and 11 blocks. His injury will keep him out for five months but he is optimistic about his recovery.

"It should heal fine," he said. "(The doctors) say I should be fine and ready for college."

He expects to begin the long rehabilitation process in about a month. In the meantime he is lifting weights to build his upper body, working on skills and serving as his team's tallest cheerleader at practices and games.

After my initial posting about Conrad's injury, Jeremy Dirks, one of his high school coaches, wrote to express his confidence Conrad would bounce back fully. He emphasized that Conrad is one of the hardest working players he's ever had.

Conrad said he is excited about the jump to college basketball and not worried about being the only freshman.

For someone who has only been playing basketball for four years, it's been a quick rise.

Conrad took up basketball the summer before his freshman year after an eight-inch growth spurt took him from 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-4.

Some scouting services have labeled him a raw prospect, but Dirks shunned that label.

"He may be raw in some aspects of his game but his skill set is all there, he can shoot very well, has good post moves and can rebound and block shots with the best of them," Dirks wrote in an e-mail. "His only real "rawness" was putting it all together as he is relatively new to the game. Before he went down he was definitely putting it all together."

Conrad said he knows he needs to improve his dribbling and get bigger and stronger. He singled out his shooting touch, speed and shot blocking ability as his strengths.

I asked him if he'd talked with the PSU coaching staff about whether he'd play next year or redshirt.

"My goal is to start next year," he said.

He plans to apply that confidence on the court and off the court where he intends to major in art.
He was impressed by PSU's art program and said the combination of the school, the coaches and the city sold him.

"When I was up there I just loved it," he said.

Ironically, his first trip to Portland was to attend a University of Portland camp for post players last summer.

On one of his flights back to Gilroy he sat next to the mother of Oregonian columnist John Canzano, a fellow Gilroy High graduate.

I asked him if told her to get John to write about him.

"She said she talked to him about me," he said.

That has to be a good sign: the kid hasn't even started playing and he's already managing his own public relations.